New Report Exposes 'Widespread Failure' of US Police to Protect and Serve Transgender People
"Police departments must evolve to meet the needs of the communities
Tuesday, May 07, 2019
'Big Attack on Working People': Trump Moves to Redefine Poverty in Order to Slash Social Programs and Services for Millions
"A novel way to take healthcare, etc., away from people AND make it look like there are fewer poor people."
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The Poor People's Campaign has mobilized nationally to fight the Trump administration's attacks on the poor.
The Trump administration on Monday moved to change the definition of "poverty" in the United States in a proposal which combines the president's attempts to portray the U.S. economy as strong with his repeated attacks on the working poor and their access to government services.
In a regulatory filing, President Donald Trump's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) wrote that it may change how inflation is calculated in order to reduce the number of Americans who are living below the federally-recognized poverty line and are therefore eligible for certain government support services and social programs.
As Melissa Boteach, who oversees income security programs at the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), wrote on Twitter, the change "seems technical, but it's actually a big attack on working people."
Edited to add: There was not as much controversy about Duttee Chand because she fit into societal expectations of femininity. This is why racialized folks can also be part of lateral discrimination. You can bet this story would have a different outcome if Caster Semenya were lighter-skinned and fit eurocentric beauty standards.
PS: Don’t come at Black women in particular who are mocking Lynsey Sharp and Joanna Jozwik. These White runners are racist AF and the calling out of their White tears is not bullying or reverse racism."
U.S. sinks Arctic accord due to climate change differences
Temperatures in the Arctic are rising at twice the rate of the rest of the globe, and melting ice has opened vast untapped oil and gas reserves to potential commercial exploitation.
A meeting of nations bordering the Arctic in Rovaniemi in northern Finland on Tuesday was supposed to frame a two-year agenda to balance the challenges of climate change with sustainable development of mineral wealth.
But Finland's Foreign Minister Timo Soini said the joint declaration was "off the table" and would be replaced by a short statement from ministers attending the conference.
A diplomatic source with knowledge of the discussions said the United States balked at signing as it disagreed with wording in the declaration stating that climate change was a serious threat to the Arctic. A second source confirmed that.
It was the first time a declaration had been cancelled since the Arctic Council was formed in 1996. The U.S. delegation could not immediately be reached for a comment.
Addressing the Council, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said President Donald Trump's administration "shares your deep commitment to environmental stewardship" in the Arctic. But he said collective goals were not always the answer.
"They are rendered meaningless and even counter-productive as soon as one nation fails to comply," he said.
The Arctic Council consists of the United States, Canada, Russia, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland.
Agreements between countries are non-binding.
President Trump has frequently expressed scepticism about whether global warming is a result of human activity and has stood by his 2017 decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord signed by almost 200 governments in 2015. That has put him at odds with campaigners and many other countries.
"A climate crisis in the Arctic is not a future scenario, it is happening as we speak," Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in her address to the Council.
The Paris accord agreed to limit a rise in average global temperatures to "well below" 2C (3.6F) above pre-industrial times by 2100. Worldwide, temperatures are up about 1C (1.8F).
(Additional reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; Editing by Niklas Pollard and Andrew Cawthorne)
Oregon denies water permit for Pembina’s Jordan Cove LNG export terminal
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said on Monday its decision was made “without prejudice,” meaning Pembina may reapply for certification and submit additional information that could result in a different decision.
Pembina said on Tuesday its management team was “working to better understand this decision and its impacts and will communicate updates when available.”
The DEQ said it originally planned to make a decision on certification, one of several federal and state approvals needed before Pembina can build the project, in September, but accelerated that schedule to ensure it does not unintentionally waive Oregon’s authority to review the water quality impacts of the proposed project.
Federal courts have said a state has a year to make a water quality certification decision or they waive their authority. That waiving of rights has played a part in a few proposed gas pipelines, including National Fuel Gas Co’s Northern Access and Williams Cos Inc’s Constitution projects in New York.
The DEQ said it denied Pembina’s request due to the expected effects of construction and operation of the proposed pipeline on water temperature and sediment in streams, among other things.
Earlier this week, Pembina delayed Jordan Cove’s planned startup by a year to 2025.
Jordan Cove is one of more than three dozen LNG export projects under development in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Analysts have said they expect only a handful or so of the plants to actually get built over the next decade.
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